Myrtle Beach's first hotel opened in 1901, and three meals and a room cost $2 a day. As of May 2011, 365 hotels, motels and timeshares offered accommodations along 60 miles of white sand beaches. The family-friendly area offers activities for all ages, including things for teens to do on their own.

Dining

Myrtle Beach has hundreds of restaurants serving cuisine to suit any taste, and themed restaurants add a little fun for teens. The pyramid-shaped Hard Rock Cafe (hardrock.com) features rock and roll decor including a kilt worn by Axl Rose and a Frank Zappa guitar. Hard Rock's menu, with burgers and barbecued chicken, doesn't provide challenges to most teens. Planet Hollywood (planethollywoodintl.com) uses movie and television memorabilia as props and offers the same sort of menu as Hard Rock. Older teens might find Medieval Times (medievaltimes.com) a little hokey, but kids in their early teens enjoy the combination of an 11th century battle and a big meal served in a castle.

Outdoors

Myrtle Beach's outdoor attractions for visitors who tire of the beach range from miniature golf to minor league baseball. NASCAR SpeedPark offers an arcade, rock climbing wall and miniature golf in addition to six racetracks. One of the rides is restricted to little kids, but teens can drive smaller versions of race cars around hairpin turns and on a polished slick track. Teens 16 and older don't need parental supervision at Family Kingdom (familykingdomfun.com), a combination amusement park and water park. The amusement park features thrill rides and the tallest Ferris wheel in South Carolina, and the water park has speed slides with almost vertical drops.

Indoors

The 400-seat Broadway at the Beach IMAX 3D Theatre (imax3dmyrtlebeach.com) presents first-run and IMAX movies on a six-story-high screen. Films last about 45 minutes (longer for Hollywood productions) and teens are welcome to pick up a meal at the on-site Pizza Hut Express to eat during the movie. Just across the North Carolina border at the northern end of Myrtle Beach, the Ingram Planetarium (ingramplanetarium.com) has interactive educational exhibits that encourage teens to use math and science skills. The planetarium shows space-related movies in the pitch-black Sky Theater and laser shows accompanied by rock and roll music.

On the Beach

Express Water Sports (expresswatersports.com) offers parasailing, banana boat rides and paddle board lessons for teens who tire of sunbathing and swimming. The company's Discover Scuba program provides diving instruction in a safe environment. Older teens can rent a Jet Ski from Ocean Watersports (parasailmyrtlebeach.com) for a half- or full-hour ride on the ocean. The company provides instruction and orientation for beginners. Late summer, early fall and early spring are the best times to catch 3- to 8-foot swells at Myrtle Beach. Teens who want to learn to surf attend Surf Camp (myrtlebeachsurfcamp.com), where experienced instructors teach ocean safety, surf etiquette and surfing skills. Sessions last one to three days.

About the Author

Meg Jernigan has been writing for more than 30 years. She specializes in travel, cooking and interior decorating. Her offline credits include copy editing full-length books and creating marketing copy for nonprofit organizations. Jernigan attended George Washington University, majoring in speech and drama.

Have Feedback?

Thank you for providing feedback to our Editorial staff on this article. Please fill in the following information so we can alert the Travel Tips editorial team about a factual or typographical error in this story. All Fields are required.